Game Rules (4th Edition)
A list of basic game rules and House Rules that all players should be familar with. Specific and more advanced rules can be found in your Player's Handbook (4e). Gameplay & Basic Game Rules 'Roleplaying' Roleplaying is the largest and most important part of Dungeons & Dragons gameplay. By genre, it is an RPG (roleplaying game). This means that players and participants are supposed to put themselves into the role of the characters that they have created within the game. For example if a player has created an elven ranger, the player would act the part they have designated for themselves, much like a play, broadway show, or movie. They would not act the part of a completely different role unless it was all part of the story. Acting a different part could ruin the experience for other players, so be considerate! Of course this can change if the player decides to create a new character or role for themselves. This is entirely up to you! It is also worth mentioning the difference between players and their characters. Don't confuse what you, as a player, may know compared to what your character may know. For example your character wouldn't know of situations he/she was not present at. More info can be found under House Rules. Roleplaying is very much up to the players and nothing is set in stone. Improvise, create new stories, and overall just have fun! The two sections below will introduce the two mechanics of roleplaying within the game. 'Skill Challenges' Skill challenges are the bread and butter of roleplaying in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Not just for this campaign, but for most campaigns in general. Since D&D is an action oriented RPG, many players may wonder how far they can jump or if they can perceive possible traps. These actions are determined by each character's skills. Their successfulness is based on the classic + modifiers and the difficulty class (DC) of the challenge. Difficulty classes are determined by your DM/GM. Here is a full list of the possible skills each player can use and what determines its modifiers. Strength (Str): Athletics '' Constitution ('Con'): ''Endurance '' Dexterity ('Dex'): ''Acrobatics, Stealth, Thievery '' Intelligence ('Int'): ''Arcana, History, Religion '' Wisdom ('Wis'): ''Dungeoneering, Heal, Insight, Nature, Perception '' Charisma ('Cha'): ''Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Streetwise Players should not become distraught if they fail at a skill challenge. Again, you cannot win or lose in a roleplaying game. You can always try again, or think of new and creative ways to solve different problems! 'Battle Mechanics' Battles or encounters are a part of the roleplaying aspect within Dungeons & Dragons games. In situations where conflicts arise, players may have to fight their way out. This is where health, defenses, and various combat powers come into play. This will be a quick guide of how to start an encounter and what each character can do during their turn. Here is the basic order of how to do things. 1'''. Roll your Initiative check. Higher initiatives start first in an encounter and lowest initiatives go last, with the exception of surprise rounds. Once every remaining character has had a turn, the order will reset to whoever had the highest initiative. This order will continue until the encounter is over. '''2. On each character's turn, they can do 3 things. They can move a number of squares equal to their speed (Move Action), make a small action that doesn't require much attention (Minor Action), or make a large action such as attacking an enemy (Standard Action). Each character can make each of these actions once per round on their turn, with the exception of special conditions such as Immediate Interrupt Actions or Free Actions. Keep in mind that each turn is about 3-7 seconds in real time depending on what characters choose to do. So think of each encounter as acting in slow motion. These are the basics of what each character can do on their turn. This next part will get a little more in-depth. It will cover what At-Will, Encounter, and Daily powers are. Powers can fall under any actions (Move, Minor, Standard, Free, Immediate Interrupt) and can only be used on those certain actions as stated on each specific power card. At-Will Powers - Highlighted in GREEN, At-Will powers can be used an infinite amount of times during an encounter within the confines of each character's turn. These are simple actions or attacks that don't require much energy to use. Encounter Powers - Highlighted in RED, Encounter Powers can only be used one time until the character has had a short rest of 5 minutes. This short rest only counts if it is a continuous 5 minutes of sitting down, relaxing, or whatever constitutes resting in general. Once this 5 minute rest has been taken, the Encounter Power is restored and can be used again and then the cycle repeats itself. These are stronger actions or attacks that require some amount of energy to use. Daily Powers - Highlighted in BLACK, Daily Powers can only be used one time until the character has had an extended rest of 6 hours. Much like Encounter Powers, this rest must be continuous and uninterrupted or the Daily Power is not restored. These are each character's strongest actions or attacks and require a great amount of energy to use. So these are basics of how conflicts are solved through encounters. This may be quite a bit of information to people completely new at D&D, but just remember its like playing a boardgame. Rolling dice on your turn and seeing what you can do is the easiest way to sum it up. Just remember to have fun and that the possibilities are only limited by what your character can do! Category:Our Campaign